Neutering Your Cat

Bringing in your bundle of joy at a young age to be neutered can be upsetting for new ‘parents’, but the younger they are, the less complicated the procedure and the healthier it is for the cat. We recommend that it’s carried out on all cats by four and a half months of age.

Why is neutering important?

Neutering is better for a cat’s health, better for owners (no smelly territory-marking or surprise litters) and also prevents unwanted breeding among your own cats, if you have several – even sibling cats will mate if they’re able to. It’s simply unfair not to have them neutered as soon as they’re old enough. And trust us, they bounce back from the procedure incredibly quickly.

Female cats

At around five months of age, a female cat will start coming into season and have frequent cycles unless pregnant.

The more cycles she has, the more likely she is to develop potentially very serious medical conditions such as mammary tumours, uterine infections and ovary problems.

She also becomes fertile very quickly after giving birth, and repeated pregnancies are bad for her health.

When a cat is ‘spayed’ at around four and a half months of age, both ovaries and the uterus are removed, preventing these problems.

Male cats

Rising testosterone causes male cats to want to increase their territory, become aggressive and roam farther from home, increasing his chance of getting into trouble – whether at the paws of another cat or from sticky situations with traffic.

He’ll soon begin to ‘mark’ his territory, which could be your living room or neighbour’s fancy garden furniture, with smelly urine.

FIV, also known as Cat Aids, is also a risk of mating and fighting.

Castration at around four and a half months nips this in the bud and is better for his health in the long run, too.

What to expect on the day

First of all, your cat is in safe hands – our team is highly experienced in looking after young cats, and we use safe anaesthetics and pain relief.

They should have had no food from 8pm the previous evening and be given plenty of water to drink.

Your cat will be admitted before 10am on a weekday morning and can usually return home from 3pm.

On coming around, they’re greeted with a tasty lunch and we’ll give you a call to let you know how they’re doing.

Once home, they’ll need to be kept indoors for a week.

We’ll arrange to see your cat both three and 10 days after their surgery to make sure all’s well.

Neutering older cats

It’s still possible to neuter your cat after six months of age, but we recommend that you don’t wait this long. Neutering earlier is less traumatic for your pet, less complicated a procedure and is also more cost effective.